Opera is bigger than iPhone for mobile browsing, but it should be compared to Safari

There’s been a lot of excited talk about Opera overtaking iPhone as the most popular mobile web browser. But that’s not a competition between two web browsers. It’s a competition between a browser and a device.

Irish company StatCounter revealed that Opera use over-took iPhone use for web browsing in May:

This research data is based on four billion pageloads per month. According to StatCounter, 24.6% of mobile web browsing was on Opera during May compared 22.3% on iPhone.

From the release:

“Opera began the year in number one slot but iPhone overtook it in February. May saw Opera regain the number one position,” commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO and founder of StatCounter. “It will be fascinating to watch how this battle plays out over the year. An interesting finding is that BlackBerry has steadily increased market share from 4.9% in January to 6.9% in May. Despite the global recession it looks as if executives are holding on to their BlackBerries.”

What we think?

Is it just me that thinks this is a “news” story created from nothing? This compares a web browser to a single device. It’s no secret that the number of mobile devices capable of an internet connection is FAR GREATER than the total number of iPhones. So it shouldn’t be too shocking that the most popular non-iPhone mobile browser is more widely used. But the above graph clearly separates iPhone and iPod Touch use. Why? They both use the same browser! If the question is “which is the more popular web browser, Opera or Safari?” then the answer is clearly Safari.

Since Opera is capable of being installed on pretty much any device, it’s usership numbers are going to be on the rise. So, yes, it’s currently slightly ahead of iPhone in the web browser stakes. But it’s still over 10% behind Apples’ Safari browser.